Please Don't Try So Hard To Say Goodbye
by dahliadenoire
Summary: AU/World War II. Lavi/Kanda. Fate brought them together. But war tore them apart. "I would wait for a year just to spend a minute with you."


_April 14, 1935  
5:35 AM  
_

The plane Lavi was riding on was a C-13 Airbus 66. It wasn't a war plane nor was it a traveling one. It was his grandfather's private jet, given to him by the higher-ups in the Military Intelligence Corps back in the 1920's when the old man was still active in the military industry. The plane routed to land on Kyoto, a small and humble city in Japan. The redheaded boy looked over to his far right where his grandfather seated himself pleasantly on a soft cream single seat, scribbling on a slightly old green book.

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**_**Please Don't Try So Hard to Say Goodbye**

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**Chapter I

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Sunday Morning

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"Hey, gramps," Lavi called with a tedious tone. He had always called him _granpa_ or _gramps_, sometimes even _panda_, mainly because of the dark circles around the old man's eyes, though most people call him Bookman with utmost respect. He was a respectable man in his side of the army, graduated a master in History in a prestigious university back in the United States and was later enforced in the Intelligence Division of the American army at quite a young age. This caused Lavi to forcefully join the army, much to his constant apprehension. He was still in the young fruitful age of ten, and yet his grandfather started pressuring him to do things, which he was mostly unwilling to carry out. He was planned to join the army as soon as he turns eighteen. He started schooling early and Bookman already planned a spot for him in a highly-influential university, though it would still be eight more years before he could even graduate from high school.

"What is it now?" Bookman replied with a gruff and old voice, not taking his eyes from his book.

"Are we staying there long?" the boy asked. "I mean, there's nothing to do there. And I have to be all alone in a old house you abandoned."

"Quit whining. You're too much trouble to stay at a general's house." the old man replied, turning a page from his book.

"Fine." With utmost boredom printed on his face, the young boy exhaled loudly. "We there yet?"

"You're only half-blind, you can see we already are." Bookman whispered loud enough for the young boy to hear. The old man began to prepare his things, putting all the stuff he was using back into a bag with his perpetual creased brow.

The plane descended below the clouds as the city of Kyoto started to show itself with all its rustic beauty. Lavi knelt on his chair, facing the window. With much amazement, he bellowed with awe. It was his first time to the city, much less to the outlandish Asian country of Japan.

Soon, the plane landed smoothly on a modest grassy clearing that served as an airway and stopped. As soon as they stepped off the jet's stairs, they were greeted by relatively old men wearing formal clothing, tiny abundant medals decorating the rightmost part of their suits. Intimidating was Lavi's first impression. He never knew any of them. Their faces were brimming in pride as they approached Bookman, shaking his hands and sending polite honorifics.

"Mr. Collins is excited to meet you! It's such an honor, Mr. Bookman." A middle-aged man excitedly said as he intensely shook the short man's hands. "He's waiting for you inside."

More and more officers arrived and began ushering Bookman toward a slightly white-washed and rather old-looking estate not far from the meadow hangar. Lavi felt like the high-status gentlemen were intentionally ignoring him. Bookman, noticing this, turned around.

"Ah, I almost forgot. General Gallagher, this is my grandson, Lavi." The old man proudly introduced which, by the way, surprised Lavi greatly because the last time Bookman introduced him like that to his acquaintances was because the redhead had _granpwa_ as his first words when he was three months old. Sadly, Lavi wasn't sure whether it was, in fact, even true or his grandfather was just making him feel better about himself.

"Quite a lad you have, Mr. Bookman!" The general said boisterously with his fairly deep Southern American accent. Lavi raised a brow at him as he was too busy trying to name a certain country singer who looked like the man Bookman mentioned as General Gallagher.

"I'm assuming you're following the footsteps of your grandfather, eh? He was famous in the Intelligence Agency for being such a smartass!" Another man, which Lavi assumed was a guy ranked in a high position due to the amount of adornments on his suit, teased inoffensively with a strong American accent as the group, as well as Bookman, laughed together quite raucously.

"I'm not interested in joining the Int. Corps." The redhead said with a smile. Bookman gave him a look which made Lavi nervous, especially since the old man told him beforehand not to mention his unwillingness to join the said division. The group of men suddenly stopped for a moment but continued on laughing afterwards.

"Don't tell me you're joining the Marines, boy. That would be outrageous!' General Gallagher cackled endlessly and it began to annoy the redhead.

"To tell ya the truth, I don't mind joining the Marines. I mean, I think it would be really cool. But I'd really like to join the army, the infantry." Lavi courageously said, his shoulders stiffening as he waited for a reaction yet still wearing a youthful grin. The redhead filled out his meaning by going through the pantomime of a soldier firing a rifle.

"Levi…"

"Lavi!" He corrected.

"Sorry. Lavi…" the middle-aged man eyed him skeptically. His forehead and brows furrowed as he pursed his lips, letting out a _tsk_ sound and looking very disappointed. "You're a smart kid. I could tell, of course, because Mr. Bookman raised you. But unless you're a man on the verge of committing suicide or who is absolutely useless in this world, don't you think it's stupid_,_ and not to mention, a waste for a gifted kid like you to join a foolish contingent like that?"

Lavi's eyebrows furrowed and looked at the slightly obese man in front of him with sheer disgust. He objected fearlessly. "You're a general, aren't you? Those people in that _foolish contingent_ sacrifice themselves and follow your orders for their country. That is far from stupid."

The general gave a nod and looked down, evading the question. Everyone turned to give him careful attention. The general eyed the boy with gradual anger. "The infantry unit is only for people who actually deserve to die."

He clenched his fist, fury slowly rising up. "You know what?" Lavi paused and pressed his lips together, "I've met a lot of dudes from the army when we went to Europe this year. But you are probably the _worst_ of them all. You're the one who deserves to—"

"Lavi!" Bookman cut off and quickly pushed the young boy away. Bookman exclaimed, "That's enough." The general was taken aback on Lavi's discontinued sentence. The obvious wide eyes and incredulous expression that the general wore was enough to make Lavi feel a little proud as his lips formed a sided grin. The man looked around and saw the other men looking at him bizarrely, having had an argument with a 10-year-old boy. General Gallagher turned green. It was a first to ever found himself encountering such an adversary.

"I apologize, General." Bookman said with a laugh even drier than usual. "Kids these days..."

Attempting to escape the humiliation, the general wiped the sweat on his forehead and let out a nervous chuckle, trying to laugh the situation off. "The kid's really a genius, I can tell you that!" He laughed again but softly and more ragged this time.

"Lavi, why don't you go to the town for awhile? Come back before sunset." Bookman said in a hurry as he worried over the general's growing resentment towards the young boy.

"What? But it's too early!" the boy whined. It made him look like a child again after having a bickering with a grown man.

"You're too much of a nuisance here." Bookman hissed at him, looking at his watch. "Remember that house I told you about? That's where you'll stay. It's a bit old and dusty but you'll get around to it."

"Can't I stay here at the mansion?"

"No."

"Don't tell me I'm staying there by myself!"

"You're old enough to go on your own. If you can walk the streets of a big city by yourself, surely you can be alone in a small town." Lavi widened his eye in disbelief. "I'll visit you tomorrow. I have too much work here and I can't afford to have you bothering me all the time."

"Then why the heck did you tag me along?"

"Because I can't leave you in New York!"

"I thought I'm _old enough _to be by myself?"

"_Except_ in New York. You tend to get in trouble all the time. Private Yorke will take you there." He said, pointing at a moderately short man wearing a military uniform standing still next to a black 1932 Ford V-8 Cabriolet.

"Ugh, fine." the redhead replied, sighing with resignation. "But don't blame me if I accidentally burn some shop in the outskirts of town."

Bookman caught the bitter and condescending look on the young man's face as he went on his way and entered the car. He never dared to look behind him where the now livid General Gallagher stood. Lavi had always hated how the authorities in the military value human lives like they were just chess pieces ready to be either sacrificed or killed. That was one of the reasons he had been rejecting Bookman's invitations to come with him to different places to meet Bookman's military friends.

Maybe he accepted this one offer mainly because he hadn't been in many countries in Asia, the only one being China where he had to stay at one of Bookman's friends for a while. It amazed him how Bookman had so many connections and occasionally wondered how he could have possibly met wealthy Chinese businessmen. He even remembered their names. The one he liked the most was a young businessman named Komui Li who looked after him when Bookman was away for a long trip. His name slightly puzzled him since it didn't sound relatively Chinese. But his question was answered when Komui mentioned that he had stayed long back in Japan and had a sister currently living there. He worried when he had heard from Bookman that there had been small battles transpiring on the northeastern part of China and several people were already having hunches that it may lead to something terribly bad.

He looked at his watch. "Seven." He whispered. It was a bright Sunday morning and he thought it was a rather pleasant activity to explore a town he had no familiarity of. With an exasperated look on the boy's face, his uncovered eye squinted as the sun only just started to rise.

* * *

The town Bookman mentioned was somewhat near from the base and it took only a moderate amount of driving to reach it. After thanking the young private and getting off the car, he inhaled the fresh air of the Gion District and stretched his arms.

Lavi's first impression wasn't nearly as close to positive. The people were quite insipid and their faces held such little distinction. It was hard to tell the differences of the citizens. Dull black hair, slanted black eyes and light skin. It was so _unexciting_. Lavi wasn't a person who would discriminate though. He had met different kinds of people of different races but he did not think of them as inferior nor superior. He just felt a weird aura in the rural town, definitely not pleasant, but exotic enough to be scenic.

He walked further in the town. He had stopped hoping and felt stupid to even think in such a stereotypical way. He honestly expected to meet women walking in very small steps, wearing a long colorful robe with different burnished patterns embedded on the fabric, also wearing thick make-up, thick enough to make every inch of the face ghostly white, similar to the black and white photographs he liked to stare at and small pictorial sections of books he had been reading. But instead, the small _hanamachi_ was filled with simple townspeople, getting ready for the day as the market stalls opened and busied at the side of the main street. Children began coming out of their houses to play. There was still a substantial amount of fog drifting on the lower part of the ground that made the scene much more monochromatic. It was still a calming view nonetheless, Lavi thought with an earnest one-sided smile.

The city was peaceful, yes, but the gradually increasing looks he was receiving from the people were starting to make him feel a tad bit uncomfortable. The surroundings were too rural that he felt like it was the first time the townsfolk saw a Caucasian-looking kid with awfully bright red hair and green eyes, with an eyepatch too, which made him look like a bad-looking fellow. The eyepatch made everything worse, he thought.

When the fog started to slowly evaporate, more and more people began emerging. Lavi couldn't help but feel so... _bright._ The town was a little too colorless. He could hear whispers around and unintentionally eavesdropped on the townsfolk. He couldn't say that he was the best Japanese-speaker in the world, but he was proud enough to brag how knowledgeable he was in the language. Thanks to this, he could understand the people's small conversations. On the right side, there were middle-aged ladies gossiping about one of their neighbor's wives. At the markets, there were old men deciding whether or not they should kill the last two chickens left in the pen. Lavi found himself laughing silently.

Maybe he was too caught up with the strange mood, or maybe he was too absentminded, but before he knew it, he bumped into something, or rather, someone. His buttock hit the hard dusty ground with a loud thump.

"Watch where you're going, stupid!" The kid he bumped into, or maybe, bumped into him shouted in pure Japanese. The redhead's initial reaction was to apologize like any other person at fault.

"S-Sorry! Are you okay?" Lavi asked in English as he stood up swiftly and extended a hand to help the kid on the ground. But the boy didn't move and merely looked at the one-eyed boy like he was an alien from outer space, indicating that he didn't understood one word of English.

Lavi realized the situation. "I mean, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he repeated, but in sloppy Japanese. The boy on the ground just nodded and accepted the hand that the redhead offered and helped himself up.

Lavi watched as the kid looked down and dusted off the dirt off his clothes which consisted of a slate blue Japanese robe. He still had not thoroughly examined the kid since he was always looking down but when he looked up to meet Lavi's face, the one-eyed boy found himself mesmerized. In all honesty, Lavi expected a stereotypical Asian face, the same as the townsfolk's likely features, but he was different. His eyes weren't black nor brown, but shining blue and it shone more brightly when the Sunday sun hoisted completely up in the sky, the sunshine hitting the boy's face. His hair, with a little tint of midnight blue, was mid-long, only covering his shoulders. His skin was close to ghostly pale. Lavi would have mistaken him for a ghost of a young girl if it wasn't for the boy's growing deep voice.

In other words, he was _beautiful_. Though his beauty was largely off the norm for a boy, his actions were awfully roguish and unexpectedly unladylike.

"Uh, again, I'm really sorry!" Lavi apologized. The Japanese boy threw him a slight glare, looking quite annoyed by the redhead's loud voice.

"You." The boy sternly said to catch his attention, "You're not from here, aren't you?" he asked bluntly yet spontaneously, observing Lavi more carefully.

"I guess?" answered the confused foreigner. He was surprised when the Asian boy boldly took a step forward and tilted his head to examine Lavi's face even further. Feeling a little tense, the redhead took a step backward. It was then he noticed a small gash on the boy's knee.

"Hey, you have a..."

"It doesn't hurt!" the boy suddenly yelled when Lavi mentioned the small wound and only backed away with respect. He repeated more softly, "It doesn't hurt."

"Sorry." He apologized again. "But we should clean that, you might get an infection."

"Infection?"

"Yeah." Lavi replied with a smile. "Quick, I'll take care of it."

The boy nodded softly and followed the taller boy towards a wooden bench. Lavi motioned for him to sit down, which he did without a complaint. The black-haired child watched as Lavi took out a pearl white cloth from his right pocket.

Lavi could tell the boy was socially awkward. But he was too diverse to be forgotten or unattended so easily. He smiled at him as he wrapped his hanker chief around the wounded knee, "What's your name?"

"I'm… I'm…" he stopped stuttering and clenched his fist, not wanting to say his name. Then, he glared at him and grumbled, "I don't know your name, too!."

"Then I'll just have to go first," Lavi started, beaming at him as he had just finished tying up the cloth. "I'm Lavi."

The boy blinked at him twice and tilted his head before showing a toughened and questioning expression. "Ra..?"

"Lavi." He repeated. "Lavi Bookman."

"Ra… bi?" the boy tried to repeat it but held much difficulty.

"Lavi. _Laaaaaaa-vi._"

"Ra…bi."

"No, it's _La-_vi."

"That's what I said, stupid!" the black-haired boy shouted, looking very angry and red.

Having been called stupid two times under two minutes was not uncommon for Lavi, but being called stupid by an Asian kid who he didn't even know the name of was quite disturbing. "Now that you know my name, can ya tell me yours?"

He looked at Lavi crossly for a moment before saying, "Kanda."

"Kanda…?" he trailed off, waiting for a continuation. "What's your first name?"

"Why should I tell you?" Kanda said, his cerulean eyes narrowing.

"You're being unreasonable."

"And you're being annoying."

Lavi only chuckled as a respond which, ironically, made the boy in front of him frown. He was irritated, the redhead thought, yet he was so amusing to watch. Lavi made a step forward and outwardly smiled and looked at the incensed face of Kanda.

"If that's the case, shall I just call you _Kanda_?" he smiled. The smaller boy started to walk past him and Lavi followed.

"It'd be better if you just leave me alone." Kanda retorted with a grunt, fast-walking away from the redheaded boy but Lavi was still persistent on following him.

"I will if you tell me your first name." he said.

The boy stopped. Silence fell between the two of them and the town's hectic noise surrounded them. Two pairs of vivid blue eyes whirled to face him. Before Kanda could mutter anything, the red-haired boy had grabbed him by the hand, pulling him deeper into the town. The surprised pale boy yelled in protest but Lavi gave no heed to it.

His deep voice held a discrete laughter as he exclaimed, "If you can't tell me, then at least show me around town."

Kanda couldn't help but run along with him, speechless and wide-eyed as Lavi forcefully pulled him, grasping his wrist. Worry and annoyance set in the deep lines between his brows.

"Show me around town." Though not intentional, Lavi's voice sounded more commanding than appealing.

* * *

Kanda observed the place and realized that all their dragging and running led them to the wet markets. Scowling and rubbing his sweaty forehead, the Japanese asked huffily. "What are we doing here?"

"I don't know. You tell me." A grin crossed the playful boy's face as he finally let go of the other boy's hand. "I don't know this place."

"You really are an idiot!" he shouted back and let out a tired sigh. "We're at the markets."

Lavi examined the place. It wasn't the most sanitary environment to be in but it was his first time in a wet market. A wide variety of fruits and vegetable lay on clothed boards and stalls, some were on the muddy ground. Freshly slaughtered meat hung from the wooden stands. The marketplace was much more colorful than the town's streets, Lavi thought and it conferred him a small amount of relief to finally see some vitality.

"You know, It's refreshing to finally see some light in this city." Lavi said. "Show me around."

"Here? There's nothing to see here but raw food." Kanda replied, his one brow raising up with derision. "And the city _is_ dull during the morning. There are spring dances during the afternoon and many performances at night."

"I see."

Kanda began to walk ahead, passing along rows and columns of stalls and tables. The place reeked of raw fish and the smell of live animals and it made Lavi's nose slightly scrunch in repugnance. Yet Kanda made no change of expression, citing that he was accustomed to the rather repulsive atmosphere. Then they had come to an area packed with mostly meat. There were live chickens and pigs and Lavi couldn't help but feel a little pity to the pig being slaughtered at his far right.

"Vegetables here are from the nearby farms so it's fresh. The meat and fish, too. They mostly sell pork here in this section and the fish at the very far end, near the river." Kanda stated.

Lavi inwardly chuckled in amazement, "You know a lot about this place. You come here often?"

The boy nodded softly. "I come here with my mother."

The mention of Kanda's mother suddenly sparked his interest. He wondered how she looked like. Lavi presumed she would be as beautiful as her son; dazzling blue eyes, snow-colored skin and blue-tinted dark tresses.

Lavi noticed Kanda's expression softened and had realized how much more adorable he was with a calm face. He asked, "Where is she right now?"

"Home, probably." He replied. "I left while she was still asleep."

Kanda tightened his lips as sudden worry swept across his pale features. The redhead, as soon as seeing the change of expression, asked what was wrong. The boy only nodded sideward as a reply and continued on walking. Lavi supposed it was about his mother one way or another seeing that it was the first time he had seen such unflustered expressions on the boy's face for the past hour.

"Yu-_chan_!"

Dark eyebrows snapped upward as the young boy heard a largely familiar voice from behind. Both boys stopped. Kanda spun around as he saw a woman emerge from a crowd. Lavi, too, saw her and quickly recognized who she was.

"_O-Okaa-chan_." whispered the wide-eyed boy.

Lavi was surprised. He was right. Kanda's mother was as lovely as her child. She didn't even look Japanese as her eyes were blue-green and her jet-black hair waved slightly, reaching over her waist. She looked very young for a mother. Lavi thought as he watched the tall woman kneeling down and wrapping the small boy in her arms.

"I told you not to leave without me." The woman said then looked at him. She talked with a Kansai dialect which interested Lavi greatly. "I was worried about Yu-_chan._"

"Yu?" Lavi muttered, catching the attention of the woman. She looked at him kindly and smiled.

"Are you Yu-_chan_'s new friend?" she asked. Her tone of voice was low but exceptionally feminine and quite motherly. Lavi smiled back at her and nodded.

"That's wonderful. I'm so happy Yu-_chan_ made a new friend." She said with a smile. Then, she approached Lavi and whispered to his ear. "He doesn't like the other kids in the neighborhood so he doesn't have many friends." She then laughed softly as Kanda pouted at her angrily.

"You should go back home, _okaa-chan._ You need to rest." Kanda insisted, his face lowering to a fretful expression.

"Oh, I know, sweetie. But I still need to buy some things."

"I can do it for you so you can rest."

"I can't have you do all the work, sweetie." She said, patting his head. "Besides, your _okaa-san_ is strong! A little cold won't get her down." Kanda looked up to his mother with a concerned expression. His mother sighed. "Now, I don't want to interrupt. Go on and have fun with your friend…?"

"Lavi!" He beamed cheerfully.

"Lavi." She repeated then laughed softly. "Such a cute name."

Lavi gave Kanda a knowing look, the woman having said his name correctly. It made Lavi's theory a possibility that she wasn't Japanese. Her tongue was foreign but yet she could speak both Japanese and English words fluently.

She knelt down to her son's level. "Yu-_chan._ Don't worry, okay? I'm going to be alright. Just don't forget to come back home for dinner." Her bright blue-green eyes then shifted to Lavi. "You can invite your friend over, too."

With a kiss on the forehead, the beautiful young woman bid the two goodbye and walked towards the opposite direction, a basket hanging from her left arm. They watched the woman's retreating back as it disappeared through the crowd.

Lavi gazed at Kanda and smiled. "Yu."

The mention of his first name made his blue orbs dilate and his face blush. He glared at Lavi and grunted, "Don't call me that."

"But it's a nice name. And in my country, we don't call people by their last names."

"It is _not_." Kanda said, starting to walk in advance. "And you're not in America."

"It is. It's a really cute name!" Lavi kept on following. "I'm guessing your mom has a similar name."

"Yuuko."

"Huh?"

"Her name's Yuuko."

"So she named you after herself?"

"No. It was my father who named me. That's why I hate it."

Lavi was then put into a deep thought. He had never asked where his father was. And it made him curious. "So, where's your dad?"

"I don't know." He stopped, his expression turning from hostility to bitterness. Kanda was on the point of refusing to explain it from discomfort.

"Is that why you hate being called _Yu_?"

"..."

"Hey, Yu."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

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**A/N: I was suppose to write this after I finished Let the Rain, but the ideas kept on comin' and comin' and I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides, this is a good block-ridder, I'm kinda having an author block recently. Have no fear, I'm still gonna update Let the Rain Fall, together with this one. I don't know if someone already made a WW2 fic, but hey, the setting really works for these guys. **

**I WATCH TOO MUCH WAR FILMS AND HISTORY CHANNEL GODDAMIT.  
**

**Hope you'll enjoy this though. If there are any questions, suggestions, reviews, criticism and even flames that you can give. Please feel free to do so.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own DGM. Otherwise, it would be major _major_ different. And that _certain_ cover would not have existed. As well as other _certain_ characters. Oh you know who that is.  
**


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